We can only guess at the movies and portrayals Carole Lombard would have gone on to give to the world hadn't her life been cut short in such a tragic way. Hollywood -and the world - was shocked to learn of the death of their most beloved (and highest-paid) star in 1942, following the plane crash that killed her at age 33.
Her magnetic presence in every film she made was more than a match for the leading men she was paired with, among them George Raft, William Powell, James Stewart, Cary Grant and, ofcourse, her great love Clark Gable. Gable and Lombard were married in 1939. Though Gable was to be married twice more in his life, he opted to be interred beside Lombard when he died in 1960.
Carole Lombard's last film, To Be or Not to Be (1942), was released posthumously.
She won an Academy Award for best actress in My Man Godfrey (1933).
Lombard with Ricardo Cortez and Paul Lukas
Carole, was so incredibly beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a comedy fan, so I probably don't appreciate her as much as some folks do. Like Jean Harlow, she was very capable as a dramatic actress, but I think she happened to get typecast as a comedy gal. My favorite of her films, of course, is a drama..."Made for Each Other" with james Stewart.
She and Clark were an adorable couple. I'd like to think that if she hadn't been so tragically killed, their marriage would have endured.
Gorgeous pictures, who would think she had a potty mouth. I agree she was wonderful in "Made For Each Other" and I also love her in "Mr and Mrs smith". She was gone too soon and I think if she'd lived Gable and her would have lasted as well.
ReplyDeleteAt times, I think Lombard's salty vocabulary is misunderstood. Carole used it as sort of a defense mechanism against men in Hollywood who touched her in inappropriate places at unwelcome occasions. Most of the time, she was well spoken and considerate, and she never used blue language around children or strangers.
ReplyDeleteLombard was one of the lucky ones in that she had brothers who taught her to swear to beat the boys club in Hollywood. In her private life the profane angel's wicked sense of humour showed through and in that she reminds me a lot of Deborah Kerr and Julie Andrews. It shows that they aren't that different to us.
Delete